Breast-shield.



A. C. BARRETT.

BREAST SHIELD.

APPLICATION mm SEPT.3, 1914.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

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' ALEX C. BARRETT, OE MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

BREAST-SHIELD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

Application filed September 3, 1914. Serial No. 860 116.

1 b all whom it may concern a lie it known that I, ALEX C. BARRETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at iriontgomery, in the county of Montgomery and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lireastfihields, of which the following is a specification. I

An object of my invention is to provide a breast shield having a rubber nursing nipple attached thereto, which may be brought to a bearing upon the breast over the nipple and which is so constructed that the milk may be drawn into the body of the shield by a suction other than that which may be exerted at the nursing nipple, and thus an infant can be fed when not strong enough to exert the necessary effort to start the milk from the breast, or, as in the case of young mothers, when the nipples are too short to permit the baby obtaining proper hold thereon; and also the infant may be nursed without injury or pain when the breast and nipples are sore.

Another object is to construct the shield and the operative parts thereof in such a manner that the suction exerted in the body of the shield is not transmitted to the nursing nipple and to also permit the creation of a pressure in the body of the shield after the shield has been filled with milk to cause a flow of the milk through the nursing nipple into the mouth of the instant in the case of very young babies or where the child will not nurse.

With other objects in view, which will be referred to, my invention consists in the peculiar combination novel arrangement of parts, such as will be hereinafter more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a view in side elevation with the parts of the shield attached in operative relation. Fig. 2. is a vertical cross-sectional view through the structure disclosed in Fig. 1.

The shield comprises a body portion which is made bell-shaped to be received over the nipples and this body portion 1 has the edge 2 thereof flared to fit and bear against the breast and to thus exclude air from the bellshaped body at that point. This bell shaped body portion may be constructed in any desired manner of glass, hard rubber, or other suitable material andhas a stem 3 provided to extend from the dome thereof. A partition wall 1- is provided between the openings from the stem 3 and the bell opening of the body portion and a passage 5 is provided there-through with a valve seat formed on the stem side of the passage in which the ball valve 6, which valve may be of rubber or other materials to accomplish the desired action is mounted in the stem to close against the valve seat of the passage 5, a cage member having perforations therethrough being inserted and held within the bore of the stem member 3 at a point suf ficiently beyond the seat in which the valve 6 works to permit this ball valve to be unseated and thus establish a passage through the stem 3. I

The stem 3 has the extreme outer edge thereof rolled over to form a bead and a rubber nursing nipple 8 which may be of the usual type is fitted over this bead to be retained upon the stem, a protector disk 9 being fitted over the nipple to rest adjacent the connection thereof with the stem 3.

A. stem 10 is pressed or otherwise formed to extend from the side of the bell of the body member 1 and a bead 11 around the outer end thereof is provided to retain the rubber or other flexible tube 12 inserted over the end of this stem, which tube may be extended to any desired length and may be provided with a mouthpiece on the free end thereof, also a clip of the usual design and structure adapted for use in closing a rubber tubing may be fitted to the tube 12 to cause a shutting off the air passage therethrough under certain operating conditions.

In use, the body portion 1 is fitted over the nipple to come to a bearing upon the breast at the edge 2 and to establish an airtight connection around the edge, the tube 12 or, in the case of a mouthpiece being connected therewith, the mouthpiece is placed in the mothers mouth and a suction is created by drawing in the breath to exhaust the air from the bell of the body portion and to thus draw the milk into this body portion, the passage through the stem 3 being maintained in a closed position by the seating of the ball valve 6 in the valve seat provided at the upper end of the passage 5. After the milk has been drawn into the body portion 1, the nursing nipple 8 may be placed in the mouth of the infant and the suction created thereon will cause an unseating of the valve 6 and will permit the milk to flow through the stem 0 and into the nursing nipple 8 from which it will be taken into the mouth of the infant. W here the infant is strong and creates a suction upon the nursing nipple 8, the suction through the tube 12 may be maintained at the same time that tl e infant is feeding and the desired operation will be attained, however, in feeding a very young baby or where the child will not nurse, a supply of milk can be drawn into the body portion 1 to fill this body portion and then the breath may be blown through the tube 12 to displace the milk from the body portion through the stem 3 and the nursing nipple 8 into the mouth of the child and in this way the child will be very readily taught to nurse.

li hile I have herein shown and described one specific form of my invention, it will be understood that slight changes might be made in the form and arrangement of the several parts of the structure without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claim may import.

I claim A breast shield comprising a body portion made bellshape to be fitted over the nipple and come to a bearing at its inner edge upon the breast with a fluid chamber in the forward part thereof a stem formed to extend from the top of said body and provided With an outlet passage therethrough, a check valve provided to close said outlet against the ingress of fluid, a nursing nipple connected around the outlet stem, an open stem formed to extend from the side of the body portion, and an open tube connected with said second. stem to be received in the mouth of a person to permit the exertion of a suction to draw the milk from the breast into said bell and subsequently to discharge breath into said bell to unseat the check valve and discharge the contents of the bell through said nursing nipple.

In testimony whereof i ai'lix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALEX C. BARRETT.

Witnesses W 13. Krrcrrine, L, P. DE VAUGHN.

Copies 01. this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of l atents. Washington, I). C. 

